A sudden system failure at Magic Kingdom Park on Monday left thousands of guests scrambling—not just for rides, but for drinks. As the Central Florida heat bore down, Walt Disney World Resort guests quickly discovered that fountain beverages were completely unavailable, leaving bottled drinks as their only option.
Massive System Failure at Magic Kingdom
The issue started at 6:00 p.m. on February 10, when Magic Kingdom Park experienced a widespread breakdown of its central pressurized air system—a crucial component for ride operations. This led to an hours-long shutdown of nearly every major attraction in the theme park, throwing the evening into unexpected chaos.
The following attractions went down without warning:
- The Barnstormer
- Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin
- Country Bear Musical Jamboree
- Dumbo the Flying Elephant
- “it’s a small world”
- Mad Tea Party
- The Magic Carpets of Aladdin
- The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
- Peter Pan’s Flight
- Pirates of the Caribbean
- Prince Charming Regal Carrousel
- Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
- Space Mountain
- Tiana’s Bayou Adventure
- Tomorrowland Speedway
- Under the Sea – Journey of the Little Mermaid
- Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress
- Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room
With only a handful of attractions running, including the Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover, Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor, Haunted Mansion, Jungle Cruise, Mickey’s PhilharMagic, and TRON Lightcycle / Run, wait times skyrocketed as guests rushed to whatever was still open.
Disney worked to restore operations, and by 10:00 p.m., most attractions were running again—just in time for a ticketed After Hours event.
Fountain Beverages Shut Off Across the Park
In addition to knocking out ride operations, the system failure also disabled Magic Kingdom’s fountain drink machines. Guests expecting to grab a quick soda were out of luck.
Reddit user u/Grottenman reported the issue, writing:
“Well, thats a first for me. They are saying their system for the fountain drinks is down. It is also not showing up available to order in any of the mobile order locations.”
Another guest, u/SeriousStrokes69, who claimed to be a Walt Disney World Resort cast member, explained the root cause:
“The cause was an issue with the central pressurized air system. All of the attractions that were down use that system for braking, lifting, or some other critical function…As of 8:45, issue seems resolved. Attractions are coming back up one by one as they complete their checklists.”
Unfortunately for thirsty Central Florida theme park guests, that same system powers the carbonation process for Walt Disney World Resort’s fountain drinks, meaning that any beverage requiring soda dispensers was completely unavailable.
With fountain drinks off the menu, the only option left was to buy bottled beverages or drink from water fountains throughout Magic Kingdom Park.
By Tuesday morning, Magic Kingdom Park’s fountain drink stations were back in service, and the park’s attractions were fully operational.
What’s the most unusual thing that happened on your Walt Disney World Resort vacation? Let Disney Dining know in the comments!
